1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle upper body structure, and more particularly to an upper body structure of an open-top type which includes a foldable hood structure for covering at least a rear upper part of the vehicle body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, among open-top type motor vehicles, a so-called convertible type has widely been known. Such type of motor vehicles include a foldable hood structure which is adapted to cover the roof and rear windshield portions but can be folded into the rear body section as desired to fully open the top portion of the vehicle body. The hood structure includes a foldable hood and a hood stretching linkage which is provided inside the hood and serves to stretch the hood when erected. Usually, the hood structure is moved into an extended position by hand through manual actuations of the linkage.
The British laid open patent application No. 2,086,316 discloses a new type of open-top vehicle body which includes a hoop member of a substantially U-shaped configuration having a pair of leg portions mounted on the vehicle body for swinging movement about an axis transverse to the body. A foldable hood is provided between the hoop member and the rear body section and a rigid roof panel is removably mounted in the roof portion between the hoop member and the front windshield. In the proposed body structure, the hoop member is manually actuated to move the hood between an extended position and a retracted position.
It should be noted, however, that such manual actuation is carried out at one side of the vehicle body so that the hoop member or the stretching linkage is twisted during operation thus disturbing a uniform stretching of the hood structure. However, in case where such provisions are made, there is a high possibility that the actuation of the hoop member is carried out when the vehicle is running. Such actuation of the hoop member while the vehicle is running will cause an abrupt change in the aeronautical drag so that the vehicle body is made unstable. This trend will be particularly significant when the vehicle speed is high.